Another spectacular Denali visit.

We just got back from another 5-day trip up to Denali National Park and Preserve and wow, did we ever hit the jack-pot this trip. We had pretty heavy rain on the 5-hour drive up, but it tapered off just as we got to the park. The weather just kept getting better and better after we got to the Teklanika campground inside the park and then spent three full days riding the shuttle buses and mountain biking the park road.

Completely unexpected was the incredible weather we had on Wednesday when Denali was out completely in all her glory. She really outdid herself on this trip. She was out again on Thursday as well.

And of course, we had to have some excitement with bears while mountain biking the park road. Because of the continued limited number of green transit buses that are running this year because of COVID, we did quite a bit more uphill pedaling that we have in the past. Devany got a new ebike and she smokes me going up any hills, but for the first time, we biked up and over Sable Pass and biked up and over Highway Pass from Stoney Dome to Toklat.

Not a huge number of bears out and about this trip, but we did have one just a bit too close for comfort encounter while we were on the bikes, and one WAY too close encounter, but luckily the bear barely paid us any attention. Definitely got the adrenaline going though.

So come along for the ride. As per my usual, way too many photos. If you mouse over the photos a caption below will tell the story.

Moose Central

It’s been a quiet summer for moose in the yard so far. Far below normal until the last couple of days. Now you have to be careful to look both ways before you step out the front door.

click on image for full-screen

Taking a break in the bog-pond below the house.

Denali during COVID. The same, but different.

We were finally able to make our first trip to Denali National Park this year. Normally we go at the end of May or early June, but 2020 is far from normal. The transit buses inside the park didn’t start running until July 1st. How different is it during the pandemic? Well, last year they hired 145 bus drivers. This year they brought back 13. Last year one of 17 green shuttle buses left the park entrance almost every 15 minutes starting at 6:45 am until the last bus left at 3:35 pm. This year there were only 6 buses leaving once an hour starting at 7 am.

As usual, we stayed inside the park at Teklanika campground and used the transit buses to access the park with our mountain bikes, but because of the very limited number of buses—and therefore, bike racks on buses—we had to change our normal routine a bit. We call it the Denali Downhill. We put our bikes on a bus to the top of one of the passes and they drop us off. We slowly coast our way down to the bottom of the pass and then wait for another bus to come along and then we do it again. We can work the buses going in both directions, so we can ride the Park Road from Tek out to Wonder Lake and back if we want on normal trips and not have to pedal up the big hills. My knees like this system a lot. Yes, gravity is definitely our friend :)

Teklanika campground felt a lot more empty during the week than in the past, although they said it was supposed to be full this weekend. They drastically cut the number of passengers allowed on the buses, and for the most part, people were really good about wearing masks and social distancing.

So Denali is still our favorite place on earth. The animals were still there, the mountains and rivers were still there. Denali herself came out for us. It was actually more enjoyable for us on the bikes this trip because of the longer gaps between buses, but we really missed all of the drivers we’ve come to know and become friends with over the years, and we hope they’ll be back next year or the year after.

Oh yeah, and we only had to be escorted around a bear that was way too close to the road while we were on the bikes once. A very nice Ranger saw the bear we were watching and offered to turn around and we rode right next to her truck safely past boo-boo.

So come along for the ride on our first trip of 2020 to Denali.